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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

random wednesday

i love the rainbow-colored S-train. it makes me happy just to see it. they're usually just plain old red, but a few of them are rainbows. almost makes you like the public transport. and speaking of public transport, i started off my first week of birthday resolutions by speaking to a stranger on the train. in denmark if people speak to someone they don't know in public, they are either drunk or mentally...ahem, shall we say...diminished...in some way. true to form, the woman who spoke to me, while high functioning, was clearly not all there. but, it still counts. even tho' she initiated the conversation.

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gerber daisies were 3 bunches for 50 kroner (that's less than $10!) at magasin. it made it feel like spring or even summer, even if the wind was pretty biting today, despite the sunshine. they look perfect in my ktichen, tho' they got a bit droopy on the long train ride home (made longer by some signal problems that meant we sat between the main train station and dybbølsbro for an inordinately long time):

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i ordered some acrylic waterfast inks from dick blick art supplies in the US the other day, a big whopping $20 worth and they sent a quote on the shipping today (thank goodness they actually sent it for approval). they have the skills of a fence post in finding reasonable shipping. their offers were $38.08 for fed ex or $29.75 for the slow boat USPS (2-3 weeks, they said). all for something which can't weigh more than a few ounces. are they completely mental? do they think they can just take advantage of stupid foreigners who don't know any better? who are they trying to fool here? i'm positive that it wouldn't take more than $10-12 to ship to me and it could be here in a week to ten days with regular international mail. i think it is a really crappy way to do business, making up what are perhaps too-low prices on the actual items on shipping costs. madness. i'll harvest some squid myself, thanks.

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sabin's big (half)sister has been hanging out here all week. normally she comes only every other weekend. she's 17 and you'd think it was a pain in the patootie to have a teenager in the house, but with husband in north carolina, it's pretty good having her around. she's made dinners and snacks because she wanted lessons in making The Pasta dish, hummus, and spanish omelette. so lessons she got. easy peasy for me. and she's a sensible, good kid. i hope sabin's this easy when the time comes.

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that's all i got today, folks. turns out this going to work on the train and sitting in an office all day is kinda tiring. hope your wednesday was less random than mine.

I love that rainbow train . . . and gerber daisies. You need color when the wind goes icy and bitey again. (We had that wind, too.) I might have problems in Denmark, as I almost always speak to people on trains.

Ha, ha, oh yes, people who start talking to strangers in public without any obvious reasons are concidered a bit short of hens in the henhouse here in Sweden too. At least in the big cities.

Love gerberas! I get them far to seldom though, but when I one day get my dream car (when I get a licence and they have a green approval-stamp) I'll have one in the car's vase all the time:)

And what is it with shipping fees from the US?? I find them all too often to be more than ridiculous - and I thought shipping was expensive in Sweden... - while the Etsy shipping fees are often reasonable. I remember I once found a pair of much coveted stockings (from Japan but the company didn't have a website) at a US webshop, the stockings were rather pricey but the shipping was about 110% the price of the socks...:( Do they not want customers?

Even in England (and they are not the most open individuals), strangers would try to start a conversation everywhere! Including at the dentist, when all our mouths have been sedated. It happened to me yesterday, I guess it was random Tuesday for me. Maybe they are just trying to be polite (they definitely try too hard at that).

That is so funny. Here in Minnesota it is perfectly normal to hold a conversation with the person in line in front of you, at the gas pump, while getting your hair cut, while grocery shopping about the cheese, etc. In fact I don't know how I would make it through a day without these random conversations :) Why not talk to those around you - you may find that they have something to say!

Hello Juliewe call them gerberas and they are so cheery but get a bit weak in the stem without fine wire supports.

I have the same problem with books from Amazon if I want then in a hurry however with postage costing the same amount as the books themselves they are still cheaper than in AUS and of course available.

I recently ordered something for my camera from New York - after searching all over Europe - and the shipping cost more than the item. But there was no way around it, as I needed it. Tt's true, some companies take advantage of shipping costs when one is overseas. As for talking to strangers on public transport, it never used to be done here, unless there was some calamity on the line. But I've noticed lately that some French people have actually gone out of their way to offer assistance to lost tourists!